AFC East
Buffalo Bills: The Bills haven't lost much so far this offseason and they have built on their playoff team. Hard to give them a bad grade here. Adding Diggs along with plenty of defensive lineman is a hard improvement. Not losing a lot is paramount to a former playoff team’s success. Most of the time doing a little rather than making a big splash is what leads to success in the NFL. Grade: A
Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins had a bunch of cap and they spent it. I applaud them for this instead of sitting on it like the Colts last year. They signed the best non-QB on the board and made other big offers so I should have a big grade on their either way right? I think it’s a mixed bag. The Byron Jones signing is worth it but a lot of money, they didn’t lose many of their own free agents of value, they made good small money signings in Jordan Howard, Ereck Flowers, and Adrian Colbert. But they also signed Kyle Van Noy to a big deal that I’m not convinced he’s worth . Shaq Lawson/Emmanuel Ogbah are likely not the answer at DE. My (Grade: B) is generally positive because I like the long term nature of most of the deals and the spending makes sense now that division is more open than it’s been in the last 2 decades.
New England Patriots: The Patriots probably had one of the worst offseason in the last 25 years right? They didn’t lose everyone (kept McCourty, Thuney, Matt Slater) but they did lose the bedrock of their dynasty whether it was time to move on or not along is another question. They also lost with Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and Danny Shelton. I really take issue with Bill for the first time in my pretend sportswriter/GM lifetime because there doesn’t seem to be a replacement plan for the Patriots QB situation. The most important position in the league should not be left in this much limbo for a team that was in playoffs last year and I assume are not going full rebuild. Or maybe they are going rebuild now, it’s a bit hard to tell currently but their defense is playoff caliber still and they could push for a playoff spot with the right QB. Grade: D+
New York Jets: The Jets took a lot of dead weight off their books this offseason which I applauded and they put a load of money onto the offensive line which I double applaud. They didn’t get a lot of my favorite offensive lineman but they still got good enough ones to help this 7-9 team. If they don’t get Anderson back this offseason then hopefully they can get a good WR in the draft because that is their biggest need still. Spoiler alert they didn’t and I lowered my grade a bit.Verdict: C+
AFC West
Denver Broncos: They lost Connor McGovern and Chris Harris which is obviously bad but the Broncos did a lot of good this offseason. To replace McGovern they got Glasgow and to replace Harris they got Bouye. Not exactly a one for one deal here (especially in the CB position) but at least they are keeping up here. But they brought in Melvin Gordon, Nick Vannett, tagged Simmons and traded again from the AFC South (losers) for Jurrell Casey. I’d say overall this team improved. Verdict: B
Kansas City Chiefs: Not much to say here but at least they didn’t lose much this offseason. Ogbah is kinda a big deal and Fuller might be good in another system but his deal isn’t really that solid a 4 year contract so I don’t think other teams are too high on him either. They finally lost Wisniewski but it’s not too big of a hit. Verdict: C+
Oakland Raiders: They really didn’t lose too much so far (Karl Joseph, Tahir Whitehead) but they didn’t lose nothing. I really like their free agent signings even if they aren’t too flashy. Littleton was signed to a great deal and same with Nassib. They more than makeup for the losses so far then they get Mariota (probably overpaid but whatever he could be an upgrade?), Eli Apple, Jeff Heath, and Maliek Collins. All average to above average guys that really helps fill the holes in the Raiders defense/possibly offense lol. Verdict: B+
San Diego Chargers: Losing Rivers and Melvin Gordon might feel like a real big loss if we are going on name recognition but in reality it means very little. I’m not sold on Tyrod Taylor but I expect them to fill the long term whole at pick 6 and the running back situation had figured itself out last season. So losing those two guys doesn’t really matter for this team. But on the defensive side of the ball they did lose Adrian Phillips and Thomas Davis but they aren’t nearly as impactful as they guys they brought in. They brought in two very high ranking free agents on my board Chris Harris and Bryan Bulaga. They also brought in Linval Joseph who I’m probably lower on than most but he’s a fine addition to a team. The defense can still be competitive with guys like Derwin James, Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, Casey Hayward besides the new additions to this defense. Verdict: B+
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers: Weird signing a FB to a really big deal but I guess if your planning on dominating the run behind a good defense it makes sense. Hargrave was the big get but it feels like too much money for three years and 25 mil guaranteed. Ebron is basically a shot in the dark with his injury history but I like the two year deal. They didn’t lose much and signed the best bang for buck guy in Wisnieski so it’s a fairly boring offseason so far but I like it for this squad who just missed out last year from the playoffs. Verdict: C+
Cincinnati Bengals: The two acquisitions are not exactly my kind of players. I get giving up on Darqueze because I sure as fuck would. But spending so much on Reader is fine but not my favorite position to put money into and signing Trae Waynes as a CB replacement is real not ok. They lost a surprising amount of players for a team that has the number one pick but they lost 6 guys to not big deal guys but still. Verdict: C-
Baltimore Ravens: Signed Pierce to replace Brockers resigned Jimmy Smith and traded basically nothing for Campbell. They really only lost Hurst but got a second rounder out of it. Love what they did this offseason because they really didn’t have to do much besides tag Judon. Verdict: B+
Cleveland Browns: Losing Schobert is a bigger deal than most fans would assume especially since their linebacker corps was so bad outside of him last year (and even the defense last year). But they signed one of the best free agent deals in the league and brought along Hooper who is overpaid but will make an impact on this offense. Losing Christian Kirksey is also not great but I care way less about that then the above. To help the defense the Browns so far are going the vet route signing Karl Joseph, Andrew Sendejo and Kevin Johnson. They aren’t long deals and not perfect players but it looks like the Browns are building on really good bedrock. Verdict: B
AFC South
Tennessee Titans: Losing Conklin is a big yikes considering they let him to probably save money since they tagged Henry and signed Tannehill. They also traded away Jurrell Casey who had a high salary (36 million over the next 3 years) for a 7th round pick which is high disrespect especially if they are looking to win now in a wide open division. I like bringing in Vic Beasley over Cameron Wake but I would like to see a multi year deal instead of a high paying one year deal. Not much movement besides the above but when the only guy you bring in is a washed up 1st round pick and lose great lineman on both sides of the ball you can’t get a good grade Verdict: C-
Houston Texans: What a terrible offseason. Signing Randall Cobb to go along with Will Fuller and replace Deandre Hopkins is the funniest sports joke I’ve heard all Coronaseason. I’m not totally down and out on Cobb, he was a valuable asset for the Cowboys last year that went unnoticed but he’s no number one receiver. They also had to take on David Johnson’s salary which is the worst thing out of this whole deal. I’m just not sure where this teams stands with one good lineman, a good quarterback and bad/getting worse defense. Verdict: D
Indianapolis Colts: Losing Ebron, Desir, and Funchess is fine. They had enough capital to not let good players go like Castonzo and they did brought in players to make this team more competitive. I just feel like they didn’t do enough. Trading their 13th overall pick for a really good player in Buckner is fine and signing him to LTD is fine but there were plenty of good free agents out there to use cap on to help fix the defense without sacrificing their first round pick. I won’t knock the trade and signing but man it feels bad to have all that cap then spend it on a guy you traded for. Getting to Rivers they have him for a year but no plan after that and I hope Rivers can be good behind an amazing offensive line with some weapons (not more than LA) because I’m not sure that he’s the savior. Rivers on tape was not impressive and with a slightly less talented group I hope with all that money tied up in the QB position the Colts figure it out. Verdict: B-
Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags full on traded away this roster that I barely even recognize anymore but I get the commitment to the rebuild. Honestly they didn’t get a lot back for their players (the most they got back was a 4th round pick from the Bears) but they did get bad contracts off the books. This is full rebuild mode and the Shobert deal is long term for when this team gets back on its feet. There are still some bad contracts on the books but hopefully the Jaguars will figure it out in the next few years with all their draft capital and cap space they have left over to make a run while Minshew is on his current contract. I hate the Campbell trade but the rest is perdy good Verdict: C